Guess Who Runs Russia?

Officially, Russia is a democracy. It supposedly is a nation which has free elections, and the people elect a president who has real power and a prime minister who allegedly reports to the president. At least that is what the official terms of the Russian constitution reveal. A year after Prime Minister Putin stepped down from the presidency in accordance with term limits for a president, almost half of the Russian people still believe he is the one who wields real power in the nation while his protege, Dimity Medvedev does something, but certainly does not act with any real power in his role as president of the nation.

Ironically, in a poll taken before the 2008 presidential election only 25% believed Putin would maintain his iron grip on power, but it is clear, Medvedev has failed to exercise the power which legally belongs to him. Only 12% of people surveyed believe Medvedev is the real leader of their nation. Welcome to Putin Russia.